Pune: Sandvik Asia, the Indian subsidiary of the US $13billion Sandvik AB of Sweden, has launched it's Medical Technology Division in India. The company will offer premium quality raw material & manufacturing services for medical device OEM customers.

"This set up gears up Sandvik to be ready to meet the growth of medical devices in India. We have established a R&D center in Pune, first time out of Sweden. Sandvik will strive, additionally, to work for further improvements in materials and products for medical devices in partnership with Medical OEMs," said Stephen Cowen, Global Head, Sales and Marketing, Sandvik MedTech.

"To support and improve service level to customers, Sandvik has established local stocks of materials sourced from Sandvik in UK & Sweden," said Chandrashekhar Puranik, Vice President, Business Development, Sandvik MedTech.

"India is an important market to Sandvik. Considering the future growth in medical devices here, Sandvik has taken the first step to set up and establish operations, in both sales & manufacturing," said Cowen.

Sandvik is a leading supplier of materials and manufacturing services to medical device OEMs globally. The Sandvik Bioline™ Medical Material range includes stainless steel, titanium and cobalt chrome in various product forms, all compliant with recognized international standards for medical implants and instruments.

The main application areas for Sandvik’s medical materials are implants and instruments for orthopedics, - primarily joint reconstruction, trauma, and spine. The product range also includes products suitable for dental as well as cardiovascular devices such as pacemaker lead wire. Other important application areas are surgical instrumentation, scalpels, bone saws, suture needles and more.

Sandvik is also a leading manufacturing service provider to medical OEMs and offers a 'one stop shop' solution including capabilities such as prototyping, casting, forging, machining, tooling, and finishing for value added products such as medical implants and instruments.

Essentially, as a medical material and services supplier, Sandvik is ISO 13485 and 9001 certified. In addition, the government's regulatory efforts will encourage manufacturers to utilize premium materials in implants. All of this promotes better products and service to ensure that the needs of the patient are paramount as part of this social welfare initiative.

"In India, Sandvik strives to create awareness in implant manufacturers to start using premium medical materials as per international standards. These standards demand lower level of impurities reducing the risk for corrosion," said Chandrashekhar Puranik.